Feminism through Koran?

[hinduwoman]

Reading in a book that some muslim women are arguing that key to equality lies in women reading the Koran.
Islamic culture teaches men and women are not equal. But Koran teaches that men and women are equal. :huh:

So what would these feminists do when it comes to where the Koran explicitly says that men are made more excellent by Allah and put in authority over women?

Hopefully atheism… :Cheeky:

[espritch]

Well, some Islamic scholars have decided that it is ok for women to become suicide bombers. So I guess that qualifiies as feminist progress of a sort. :rolleyes:

You can't show your face in public, you can't leave the house without a male relative to accompany you, and you can't drive a car, but, Allah be praised, now you can strap on a bomb and blow yourself up to kill the infidels.

[Bloodnf]

Well, some Islamic scholars have decided that it is ok for women to become suicide bombers. So I guess that qualifiies as feminist progress of a sort. :rolleyes:

You can't show your face in public, you can't leave the house without a male relative to accompany you, and you can't drive a car, but, Allah be praised, now you can strap on a bomb and blow yourself up to kill the infidels.

Interesting that you jumble up the laws and actions in a couple of places and brush the whole muslim world with the mix.

[premjan]

I'm not sure the stuff you are talking about are all happening in one Islamic country. For instance, I doubt that Saudi laws permit suicide bombing, and I doubt that Palestinian women can't drive.

[yalla]

Hinduwoman
If you are interested in pursuing the topic of Islamic feminism here are 2 books that I can recommend:
"September 11, 2001: Feminist perspectives'' Eds. S HaWthorne and B.Winter Spinifex Press Melbourne 2002 ...has a variety of comments on 9/11 including some from islamic women inc. some from Afghanistan.

"In Search of Islamic Feminism" Elizabeth Warnock Fernea Anchor books NY 1998.

If I can ultra simplisticly summarise a theme in these books it would be that islamic women who are activists/"feminists'' want to do so on their own terms and object to western people telling them what to believe.

[Mughal]

Dear hindu woman,

greetings.

Muslim women have been reading the quran right from the beginning, especially the ones in Arabic speaking lands and have not dared challenge the muslim men. Most just accept what the quran says fearing torture and death at the hands of their loved ones if they questioned the quran.

Also since they have been conditioned to live islamically for so long it is difficult for them to change much unless there is a huge helping hand from out side the islamic quarters.

Since islam is the latest of the most followed religions, its originators and their supporters have looked at weak spots of other religions and learned therefrom and plugged most of the holes that caused problems for other belief systems. So islam has most control over its followers.

Despite all this there are odd muslim women who are coming out and if people support them, there is a good chance that others will follow them.

regards and all the best.

[DMB]

Irshad Manji is still a muslim and she is a feminist lesbian. You might find her book The Trouble with Islam Today (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312327005/qid=1123529163/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_ur_2_1/002-6694865-7771243) interesting. She has, of course, received death threats.

[hinduwoman]

The women have to reinterpret Islam and the Koran --- otherwise Islamic feminism will remain a dream.

[IsItJustMe]

Absolutely. And certainly that can be done, and there are people who are doing it, though not many yet. But to me, it hardly seems worth the trouble. Surely it would be easier to let the whole thing go and start from scratch.